


death & destruction

by perhapssoon



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, apocalypse au, everyone dies, no power at all smh, the zapfish is gone im sorry, this is fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-16 17:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16499474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perhapssoon/pseuds/perhapssoon
Summary: AU where the Octarians defeat the Squidbeak Splatoon and take over Inkopolis. There is no more power left in Inkopolis, which means no more spawn points. Turf battling is too deadly to carry on competition. Inklings are ruled under strict curfew and punished for any dissent, but there are a group of rebels that aim to take back Inkopolis...





	1. never too late

**Author's Note:**

> as this is a apocalypse au, there is a lot of death, im sorry

_When the world comes crashing down_

_Keep your head held high_

_It’s hard, but you’ll make it_

_It’s painful, but you’ll make it_

_And when all hope seems lost_

_Don’t worry_

_You’ll find it again_

_Just keep persevering_

_You’re strong enough, I know you are_

_Everything will turn up in the end_

_._

_._

_._

_I promise_

_——_

It’s raining so hard that N-Pacer has to actually take out a Sorella Brella to shield herself from the water. Silver shoes splashing in the puddles flooding the streets, she manages to cross without any trouble, meeting the Inkling waiting for her on the other side.

“Took you long enough.” Emperor shoves his free hand into his pocket, the other holding his jacket above his head to block the rain.

“I had to sort a few things out underground,” she replies, casting a gaze through the empty streets of Inkopolis. It is past curfew; any Inkling caught out of their homes at this hour would be punished. But N-Pacer and Emperor are among the few resisting the rules and risking their lives against the law.

It’s what this place has come to when the Squidbeak Splatoon fell to DJ Octavio.

“They are working it out fine?” Emperor asks, his expression blank, but N-Pacer can sense the tension rising off of him in waves. “Is Prince okay?”

“Prince is fine,” N-Pacer tells him, and Emperor visible relaxes. “He shot down an Octocopter today without us knowing but escaped without being caught. Rider had to lecture him on the risk of being seen, but it looks like we’re in the clear.”

Emperor nods slowly. “You know of my resignation?”

“Yes,” N-Pacer replies, and when he doesn’t say anything after that, she continues, rather hastily. “But why did you resign the resistance? It’s too early for Prince to take up your mantle. You’re the Emperor, and you always will be. Why the sudden change?”

She expected to be told to be quiet, but Emperor merely smirks slightly. He turns to face the emptiness of Inkopolis. “DJ Octavio has been watching our activity. While he doesn’t know where we are hidden or what we do under the radar, he knows about me. He’s seen records of Turf Battles, players recorded with their stats, weapon, everything. I’m one of the top Turf Battlers out there, and the three Inklings above me have been targeted by the Octarians as a means for wiping out possible resistance leaders. I’m next, and if they find out about the rest of the resistance, our efforts would have been futile. I’d rather have the satisfaction of going out with nothing to lose.”

Something about him seems off, but N-Pacer doesn’t take too much notice of it. “And what about the rest of us? Prince is to take your place, I understand, but–”

“Prince doesn’t need to,” Emperor cuts her off, “and I’m sure he’ll refuse position. As you and Jr. are so loyal to my commands, you would force him to become something he doesn’t want to be. Anyone is free to lead after I leave.”

When she opens her mouth to protest, he shakes his head. “I command it.”

“What about Eging Jr?” N-Pacer asks, “He would surely go after you.”

“Would  _you_?” Emperor stares at her, and she feels a shiver run down her back, yet she answers honestly.

“No, your commands are my orders. I cannot disobey orders from you.”

Emperor smiles slightly. “Correct. You’ll need to inform Jr. on my decision tonight.”

She bows her head, but something strikes her as wrong. “You say this like you are going to die tonight. Like you will be gone forever.”

He shushes her by simply looking at her and walks forward, away from the overhang they had been conversing underneath so that the rain is falling directly onto his jacket, soaking it. “It’s for the best N-Pacer, I promise.”

And before she can react, he drops the jacket, exposing himself to the rain, letting it pour over his body.

She can’t scream -  _she can’t_ \- as the rain melts him into a puddle of golden ink, letting it be dispersed by an endless current of water, disappearing into the empty darkness.

———-

Eging Jr. does not take the news well. His response, even after N-Pacer relayed to him and Prince – and essentially the entire resistance – every single word that had been spoken, was to leave to go above ground.

The rest of the resistance is in shock.  One of their leaders is gone, and they haven’t even gotten started on any plans in defeating the Octarians.

“What do you suggest what our next step of action should be?” Rider asks, hands on his hips.

N-Pacer just shrugs. “I have no idea. Emperor’s death doesn’t dictate who the next leader should be – he intended it to be that way.”

“Why don’t we split into teams?” Headphones asks. “Not by our Turf Teams, because it would put targets on our backs, but as makeshift ones?”

“Like how?” N-Pacer turns to her, feeling a flush creeping up her neck as she stares at the other Inkling.

“Like assigning groups based on weapons,” Aloha suggests. “Group similar weapons together to patrol, maybe, or something the same?”

It was one of the only times N-Pacer had heard him actually speak without singing; he hadn’t spoken since the Octarians had taken over.

“That seems like a good idea,” Prince says with a slight smile. “Does everyone agree to it? What teams do you want to form?”

Skull is the next one to speak, surprisingly. “I’ll take the snipers. Headphones, Half-Rim, N-Pacer.” He looks to N-Pacer for approval, and she nods. The other Inklings whose names were called move forward to stand beside him.

“We’ll take night watch next night,” he says.

N-Pacer nods. “Then it’s settled. Everyone else figure out teams while I go after Jr. Prince, take a look at the schedule for Inkopolis tomorrow.”

Everyone mumbles assent and disperses.

Prince gives her a worried look but leaves as well.

And N-Pacer is alone to her own thoughts.

———-

She finds Jr. on top of the weapons store, lost in thought.

“Are you okay?”

He shrugs. “I’ll come around.”

“No really.” She sits next to him. Around Emperor, she’s forced to converse formally, but with Eging Jr. and Prince, she can talk a bit more normally. “You are more upset than anticipated.”

“I had a crush on him,” he says finally, and N-Pacer is stunned into silence. “I had a crush on him since I met him, and I just–I just didn’t tell him, because who tells Emperor of silly things like that? All this time I went without saying a single thing to him because I thought he would hate me for it. And I couldn’t live with that. And now he’s gone.”

N-Pacer stays silent. The loss of their leader, and more importantly, their  _friend_  is hitting her just now and she hates this new feeling of vulnerability.

It’s all she can say to him: “I know how you feel.”

And that is all.


	2. arise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team sniper move out!!

Patrol is quiet that evening. None of her fellow snipers are particularly vocal about anything, so Headphones is left to silence and consuming darkness. As to be careful not to splat each other by accident, they all changed their color to match Skull’s, painting over their eyes with their original ink color as a tribute to their old life. As the Octarians have no consideration to fresh air, they are required to wear gas masks that cover the lower half of their face whenever they go on patrol.

They move across the rooftops in a straight line, Skull in the front, and Headphones in the back. As her charger is the only one without a scope, she’s in charge of watching over her teammates while they’re scoping out a good place to strike.

After about half an hour, Skull stops them and pauses, peering over the roof edge to the street below. When Headphones turns to see what he’s looking at, she nearly catches the eye of an Octarian soldier, crossing the street with their gun raised, checking for any Inklings breaking curfew. She leans back, heart pounding, as she looks over at her teammates for their reaction.

Half-Rim, his eyes hidden behind the reflection of the street lamps in his glasses, pulls back next, and with a small  _click,_ flicks off the safety.

N-Pacer and Skull retreat into the shadows as well, waiting for Half-Rim to take the shot.

There’s a small whirring noise as the scope zooms in on his target, and there’s a brief breathless pause before his finger barely twitches on the trigger and a glob of ink shoots out of the barrel and hits the Octarian in the face. It causes them to melt with a small shriek that sounds deafening in the pressing silence.

Headphones presses her back against the cold metal of the roof railing, breathing hard.  _If anyone heard that–_

Half-Rim crouches next to her, expression unreadable as he glances over to Skull, who waves them forward.  _All clear._

They rise, and move on, eliminating each Octarian they come across, making sure to use as minimal ink as they can to cover themselves.

Headphones has never been on patrol with a group this serious.  Before this, she was paired with Aloha, who seemed to fall mute after the Octarians took over, but his movements still showed the energetic, bouncy side of him. And before that, she was with her original Blue Team, which was a chaotic as patrol should allow.

This is an entirely new experience and it terrifies her in ways she doesn’t really understand.

As they are walking back to base, N-Pacer falls back so she is in step with Headphones. “You doing okay? Your shots seemed more shaky than normal.”

Headphones never would have associated N-Pacer with compassion but she answer, nevertheless, seeing it was a way to maybe bond with the older Inkling. “Yeah, the patrol has never been this serious when I was out before.”

N-Pacer inclines her head. “Understandable.” She lowers her voice and adds, “Both are decent to be around, but between you and me, Skull is a dumbass. He’s strong and a good shot, but he’s dumb.”

“I kinda noticed that.” The bluntness from N-Pacer was somewhat unnerving. “Do you judge everyone based on their personalities and keep that image?”

N-Pacer shrugs. “I was taught at an early age that our personalities define who we are, and I was shown how to evaluate and pick them apart. The training never quite wore off. I do apologize if I am too upfront with you.”

Headphones nods slowly, but a question is nagging her. “What do you think about me?”

Maybe it is a trick of the light, but Headphones can see a slight blush cross N-Pacer’s face before she responds. “You are good with a charger, yet you allow your emotions to control yourself too well. You want the best of your team, and to be able to watch their backs, which, I assume, is why you picked charger in the first place.”

“I–yes,” Headphones hesitates before meeting the other Inkling’s gaze, feeling a strange heat creeping up her cheeks. “How did you know?”

N-Pacer gives her a serene smile. “I am very observant that way.”

Skull waves a hand back and both Inklings look up. “Let’s try to keep talking to a bare minimum.”

They move apart from each other, and it’s only then that Headphones can feel the flaming heat covering her face. She thinks it’s from being called out on patrol, but something tells her it has something to do with N-Pacer.

She catches Half-Rim’s gaze for a split second and he raises an eyebrow before facing away from her, colored air rising from the filters of his gas mask.

She wonders if she missed something.

—–

Before going back to base, they take a detour to the lobby, which has been closed down indefinitely by the Octarians. The sides of it are sprayed with ink, covered with scribbles from rebelling Inklings, and the resistance themselves.

Skull motions that they are free to paint something onto the walls and Headphones takes the initiative to take her charger and painstakingly trace out the words:  _The resistance is here._

N-Pacer is busy with artwork of a large-scale charger along the back end of the lobby, and Skull actually goes inside the lobby to spray some things out as well. Half-Rim is actually using a bit of scrap metal lying on the ground to carve something into the window.

Once she’s finished, Headphones crouches next to the bench on the outside of the lobby.  She’s done this before. She had stopped by with the Blue Team twice, though no matter how quiet they were, they always were found and nearly caught. “You know how heavily guarded this place is?” she murmurs to Skull, who nods.

“We have to be quick.”

Everyone’s done with their vandalization a few seconds later and they’re about to leave as a loud bang echoes through Inkopolis and spotlights aim down at them.

_“Stop intruders! Inklings out past curfew!”_

Skull curses and waves N-Pacer forward. “I can cover us, you need to leave.”

“What about you?” Headphones asks, eyes wide.

Skull gestures to the approaching Octarians. “Just get out of here.”

He pulls an Inkstorm ball out of his pocket and hurls it at the ground, a sheet of purple rain spreading forwards. Headphones reaches out to him but an explosion from one of the Octavian guns rips through the ground, throwing her against the lobby walls and knocking her out for a bit.

When she wakes, she faced with a heavy cloud of dust. Before she can react, a hand grips the back of her shirt and drags her backward into the lobby itself.

She starts to scream, but a hand clamps around her mouth, silencing her. Struggling to release herself, she pulls away, and finds herself face to face with Half-Rim.

The other Inkling looks worse for wear: one of his lens is cracked, and the frames of his glasses are slightly bent out of shape. “You okay?”

His expression shows no compassion or any emotion whatsoever but Headphones responds nevertheless. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She glances towards the opening of the lobby, the dust rising shielding her view. “What happened to N-Pacer and Skull?”

“Right here.” N-Pacer emerges from the darkness, her white coat stained with soot. “Skull is probably back at base already. The orders for any patrol—“

“Are to make sure as many people come back alive. And if there seems to be none, come back on your own,” Headphones finishes. “I know the rules.”

“Then you should know we need to get back to base soon.”

Half-Rim rises, squinting through his remaining lens. “N-Pacer, do you have the ink tank?”

The ink tanks are the only things linking Inklings to spawn points. But with all the spawns down, their only use now is for holding ink. Each patrol team is limited to two, as there were only a few remaining from Ammo Knights after the Octarians took over. Skull had one. N-Pacer has the other, but they sometimes switched with the other members of the patrol group depending on who needed the ink the most.

“Yes.” N-Pacer slings it off her back and tosses it to Half-Rim, who catches it by hooking the strap. He hands it to Headphones who blinks in surprise.

“Can you scout us?” Half-Rim asks.

“W-wha?” Headphones fumbles the ink tank onto her back, all too aware of N-Pacer watching her. “I mean, yeah I can.”

She stumbles a bit while leaving the lobby, swiping at the air so she can see. The colored streams of air furling from her air filters nearly cloud her vision, but she waves it away. She needs to focus.

Training her charger at the shadows, she edges forward. Whatever that explosion and ink storm had done, the Octarians were gone. And so is Skull. Hopefully he made it back to base, like N-Pacer had said.

The area turns out to be clear, despite the gaping crater in front of the lobby, so when she motions to her – what does she call them now? are they all friends just because of the resistance? – teammates, she points to the crater to warn them.

Both N-Pacer and Half-Rim avoid the crater easily and catch up to her near Grizzco.

“Is this place still operating?” N-Pacer wrinkles her nose as she glances into the shop, which is barred off by crisscrossing gates.

Headphone shrugs. She has no idea how the other two are so calm; she’s a bundle of emotions hastily wrapped together and drawn taut by recent events.

Half-Rim edges past her, and it’s only then that Headphones realizes that both he and N-Pacer are wearing new gear. Not only is it a far cry from their clothing style, she has never seen any of it before in any existing shop. N-Pacer has double shoulder pads with a thick yellow stripe down the center of each one, and Half-Rim is wearing some kind of cloak.

“Where did you get that gear?”

Half-Rim stops and looks down at himself as if just seeing it. “You just noticed? We stole it from some Octarians last week. I think you were out on day patrol above ground when it happened.”

“We can get you some when we get back to base,” N-Pacer says, breaking her cool composure.

“I-oh.” Headphones blinks. “Thank you.”

She hands the ink tank back to N-Pacer and their hands brush together trading it off and Headphones feels a blush in her ears this time. Trailing after her teammates back to camp, she wonders if she’s developing a crush.

N-Pacer glances back at her when they reenter the sewers and Headphones has to look away.  Yeah, it’s definitely a crush.


End file.
